California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project

Authors: Renee Sherman, John Tibbetts, Dionne Dobbins, and Danielle Weidler, American Institutes for Research, May 1997

This publication identifies a set of recognized skills and knowledge areas possessed by effective program administrators. The purposes of this publication are to enable adult education administrators to think reflectively about their programs, to identify areas of strengths and areas for improvement for themselves and for their programs, and to plan and implement strategies that enhance the overall quality of their program.

Authors: Renee Sherman, Dionne Dobbins, John Tibbetts, Judith Crocker, and Michael Dlott, American Institutes for Research, March 2002

This publication introduces an assessment instrument to help programs implement the management competencies. What follows is a detailed description of the Management Competencies Assessment Instrument (MCAI), including an overview of the various types of evidence that will help verify of the existence of the competencies.

Authors: Renee Sherman, Dionne Dobbins, John Tibbetts, Judith Crocker, and Michael Dlott, American Institutes for Research, April 2002

This publication identifies a set of recognized skills and knowledge areas possessed by effective professional development coordinators. The purposes of this publication are to enable professional development staff and their supervisors to think reflectively about their professional development system, to identify how the system builds on the strengths of the coordinator and the professional development staff, to identify where there is room for improvement in both the coordination and delivery of services, and to plan and implement strategies that enhance the overall quality of their program's professional development activities.

Author: Jane G. Coggshall, American Institutes for Research, produced for the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, May 2012.

This brief discusses how state-level professional development policy, teacher certification policy, teacher evaluation policy, and teacher compensation policy can come together to build systems to support professional learning that effectively supports helping learners become ready to succeed in postsecondary education and the workforce in the 21st century.

Authors: Mark Kutner and John Tibbetts, American Institutes for Research, May 1997

This paper describes three components of an ideal professional development system: an intergovernmental infrastructure supporting professional development, the availability and delivery of multiple professional development activities and approaches that are based upon the systematically determined needs of both instructors and programs, and ongoing evaluation.

Authors: Renee Sherman, Mark Kutner, John Tibbetts, and Danielle Weidler, American Institutes for Research, June 2000

This guide was designed to help adult educators develop and implement comprehensive professional development systems that will benefit individual staff, the adult education program, and ultimately, the learner. It also discussed the roles of administrators, professional development coordinators, and instructors in designing, delivering, and supporting professional development activities. Finally, it included prototypes of needs assessments and individual professional development plans that could be adapted by state and local adult education programs to suit their own circumstances.

Produced by California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project, 2006

CALPRO offers these suggested guidelines for initiating and conducting discussion groups using the research digests, summaries, and bibliographies.

Authors: Arthur Evans and Renee Sherman, American Institutes for Research, September 1999

This guide is designed to assist individuals interested in pursuing graduate study in Adult Basic Education (ABE) or a related field. It is a work in progress and is essentially a "snap–shot" of ABE in graduate programs existing in the United States in 1999–2000.

Authors: Renee Sherman, Janet Voight, John Tibbetts, Dionne Dobbins, Arthur Evans, and Danielle Weidler, American Institutes for Research, April 2000

Based on research in the field of mentoring and interviews with adult educators who have participated in mentoring systems, this guide provides a resource for programs on mentoring. It provides a rationale for why mentoring is appropriate for instructors and discusses several issues agencies need to consider in designing, implementing, and evaluating mentoring. It is designed to help programs understand the different ways in which mentoring can be implemented and to help them make decisions about how mentoring can fit in with their particular organizational structures, resources, and needs. In addition, it provides valuable information for mentors themselves, such as a discussion of the various strategies that can be used with protégés.

Authors: Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy (ISAL), The Pennsylvania State University Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corporation (CPWDC), North Central Workforce Development Board (NCWDB), Southern Alleghenies Workforce Development Board (SAWDB), and Pennsylvania College of Technology Produced by The Pathways to Employment initiative funded through the U.S. Department of Labor?s 2015 Sector Partnership National Dislocated Worker Grant program, and supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, February 2017.

This guide was prepared by the Pathways to Employment Initiative of the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy at The Pennsylvania State University, and three Pennsylvania Workforce Development Boards in partnership with local IET training providers (2017, February) to engage stakeholders in curricular collaboration. IET programs in IL, KS, KY, OH, PA, VA, WA and WI are highlighted including descriptions of their course offerings, objectives and partners. This resource focuses on addressing basic skills, rather than occupational skills to help students as they move along their career pathway.

The resource is divided into six sections and provides highlighted program snapshots, lesson planning and program design considerations as well as questions and worksheets to foster discussion. Additional resources are also included with direct links to the aforementioned programs. Agencies and their partners can use the guide and ready-to-use tools as they collaborate in the planning and implementation of new or existing IET programs.